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Fairest 13
Synopsis In the conclusion of "The Hidden Kingdom," will Rapunzel discover what happened to her long-lost children-or will the Japanese Fables have their final, bloody revenge? Lies, secrets and betrayals fold into each other like origami in the finale to Lauren Beukes' and Inaki Miranda's acclaimed story arc! Plot Returning to Tokyo, clothed in a coat made of her bezoars, Rapunzel wishes to clear her name, and she intends to walk straight into the CEG building and face Tomoko head-on. Tomoko, meanwhile is preparing for war with Katagiri. Having long thought that Rapunzel was responsible for the destruction of the kingdom she once called home, Tomoko now seeks a way to neutralize her bezoars. Jack Horner, under her thrall, offers to help - so long as she has enough cleaning products. At Katagiri's sumo school, Bigby and Totenkinder are unimpressed with the frog-man's war preparation. Aside from a cat, a few sumos, and a pile of paper cranes, they have nothing to face Tomoko's very real guns and ammunition with. However, after Katagiri releases his cranes into the air, it is only hours before one hundred demons answer the call. Rapunzel returns to the CEG building to find that it is a war zone, where Tomoko commands her Yakuza soldiers against the Yokai she believes are traitors. Bigby and Totenkinder come up with a strategy to get their hands on Tomoko's foxfire in the meantime. Calling up to Tomoko, Rapunzel warns of what her bezoars can do, and demands that she stand down. With contempt, Tomoko asks whether Rapunzel intends to tear her home apart again. Rapunzel responds that it was Ryogan, not her, who betrayed Tomoko in the Hidden Kingdom. He had killed the residents of the castle and opened the gate for the Adversary's army. She had been dumped down a well and buried under the corpses of those slaughtered, and the experience drove her mad, and spawned the bezoars that now surround her - but she has them under control, now. They could all still go back. Hearing this, Tomoko's army attempts to give up, but Tomoko uses her foxfire to force them to fight. Sighing, Rapunzel readies her bezoars for attack, but Tomoko calls down that she knows her secret. From the top of the CEG building, a vat of bleach is poured down on Rapunzel, blinding her and knocking her bezoars to the ground. Joel, concerned for her, rushes to her side with a bottle of water while Bigby resolves to go in and get the foxfire himself. Bigby transforms into a massive wolf, while Joel pours the water into Rapunzel's eyes, helping her to see. In the meantime, a winged yokai flies over Tomoko's head as Jack steals the foxfire from her hands and escapes with the winged soldier's help, knowing that Tomoko will die without it. As Bigby reaches the roof, Mayumi pulls Tomoko through a mirror to escape. Jack, meanwhile, loses his grip on the foxfire, requiring Joel to become a crow and catch it. In the process, though, one of Tomoko's men shoots him down, and he returns to human form, plummeting to the earth with the foxfire in his arms. Rapunzel watches Joel fall, and understands that she has feelings for him. Her emotional response overrides the bleach's effects, and she takes off the enchanted hairpin that had prevented her hair from growing. Thanks to this, Joel lands safely - though wounded - in a cushion of her ever-growing hair. Rapunzel begs him not to die, and woozily, he responds that he can't die, because she's too awful at cutting her own hair to do without him. Afterwards, all of the Japanese Yokai return to the Hidden Kingdom, intending to close the gate behind them forever. Before they leave, though, the cat mentions to Joel that Rapunzel does love him - though she loves Tomoko more. At the well, Rapunzel still can't be sure that it wasn't Totenkinder who stole her real children, the ones that were taken from her long ago. And she is not too pleased to have been used by the witch to get the foxfire away from Tomoko, and into the hands of Fabletown. Disinterested in making good on her part of their bargain, Rapunzel tosses the enchanted hairpin down the well, and urges Totenkinder to get it herself, if she doesn't mind risking being torn apart by any stray bezoars. Later, Joel confronts the witch, sure that she knows who stole Rapunzel's daughters. Totenkinder warns that it is too dangerous to tell Rapunzel who it really was. The twins were stolen by an enemy who would use any means to bring her down - one who would use Rapunzel against her. Turning to him, Totenkinder gives Joel an item which she promises will help protect Rapunzel from herself - by making her forget about the hidden kingdom, Tomoko, and her daughters. Rapunzel, meanwhile, is dragged through the mirror by Mayumi to Tomoko's side. From the bundle of hair on her head, Rapunzel retrieves the foxfire, keeping her promise to get it back for her - centuries late. They kiss, and Tomoko begs her to stay, to let her come looking for her children with her. Sadly, Rapunzel admits that she can't do it, because she has responsibilities to Joel. Joel and Rapunzel board the plane back to Fabletown with Totenkinder and Bigby, worried that they will be sent to the Farm once they get back. In the meantime, they hope that they can put the past behind them as Joel sneaks the potion he was given into Rapunzel's water. Appearances in this issue Featured Characters * Rapunzel Supporting Characters *Bigby Wolf *Joel Crow *Totenkinder *Katagiri Antagonists * Mayumi (Flashback and main story) * Ryogan (Dies in flashback) * Tomoko Other Characters * Jack Horner Locations * Japan ** Tokyo